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Formlabs is a
3D printing 3D printing or additive manufacturing is the Manufacturing, construction of a three-dimensional object from a computer-aided design, CAD model or a digital 3D modeling, 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is ...
technology developer and manufacturer. The
Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81, ...
-based company was founded in September 2011 by three
MIT Media Lab The MIT Media Lab is a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, growing out of MIT's Architecture Machine Group in the School of Architecture. Its research does not restrict to fixed academic disciplines, but draws from ...
students. The company develops and manufactures 3D printers and related software and consumables. It is most known for raising nearly $3 million in a
Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
campaign and creating the Form 1, Form 1+, Form 2, Form Cell, Form 3, Form 3L, and Fuse 1
stereolithography Stereolithography (SLA or SL; also known as vat photopolymerisation, optical fabrication, photo-solidification, or resin printing) is a form of 3D printing technology used for creating models, prototypes, patterns, and production parts in a lay ...
and
selective laser sintering Selective laser sintering (SLS) is an additive manufacturing (AM) technique that uses a laser as the power and heat source to sinter powdered material (typically nylon or polyamide), aiming the laser automatically at points in space defined b ...
3D printers.


History

Formlabs was founded by Maxim Lobovsky, Natan Linder, and David Cranor, who met as students at the
MIT Media Lab The MIT Media Lab is a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, growing out of MIT's Architecture Machine Group in the School of Architecture. Its research does not restrict to fixed academic disciplines, but draws from ...
while taking a class called "How to Make (almost) Anything". The founders also drew on their experience with MIT's
Center for Bits and Atoms The Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA) was established in 2001 in the MIT Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is currently run by Neil Gershenfeld. This cross-disciplinary center broadly looks at the intersection of information ...
Fab Lab A fab lab (''fabrication laboratory'') is a small-scale workshop offering (personal) digital fabrication. A fab lab is typically equipped with an array of flexible computer-controlled tools that cover several different length scales and vari ...
program, as well as Lobovsky's experience with the
Fab@Home Fab@Home is a multi-material 3D printer, launched in 2006. It was one of the first two open-source DIY 3D printers in the world, at a time when all other additive manufacturing machines were still proprietary. The Fab@Home and the RepRap are credi ...
project at
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
. Formlabs was officially founded in September 2011 to develop the first desktop-sized, easy-to-use, and affordable
stereolithography Stereolithography (SLA or SL; also known as vat photopolymerisation, optical fabrication, photo-solidification, or resin printing) is a form of 3D printing technology used for creating models, prototypes, patterns, and production parts in a lay ...
3D printer. Formlabs received early seed funding from investors including
Mitch Kapor Mitchell David Kapor ( ; born November 1, 1950) is an American entrepreneur best known for his work as an application developer in the early days of the personal computer software industry, later founding Lotus, where he was instrumental in deve ...
,
Joi Ito is a Japanese entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He is a former director of the MIT Media Lab, former professor of the practice of media arts and sciences at MIT, and a former visiting professor of practice at the Harvard Law School. Ito has re ...
, and
Eric Schmidt Eric Emerson Schmidt (born April 27, 1955) is an American businessman and software engineer known for being the CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011, executive chairman of Google from 2011 to 2015, executive chairman of Alphabet Inc. from 2015 to 20 ...
’s Innovation Endeavors. In November 2012, Formlabs was sued by the industrial 3D printing giant
3D Systems 3-D, 3D, or 3d may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Relating to three-dimensionality * Three-dimensional space ** 3D computer graphics, computer graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data ** 3D film, a ...
that claimed rights to the
stereolithography Stereolithography (SLA or SL; also known as vat photopolymerisation, optical fabrication, photo-solidification, or resin printing) is a form of 3D printing technology used for creating models, prototypes, patterns, and production parts in a lay ...
technology that the Form 1 uses. In October 2013, Formlabs closed an additional $19 million Series A round of financing led by
DFJ Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) is an American venture capital firm focused on investments in enterprise, consumer and disruptive technologies. In January 2019, DFJ Venture, the early-stage team, spun out and formed Threshold Ventures. DFJ Growth ...
Growth, joined by
Pitango Venture Capital Pitango Venture Capital, established in 1993, is Israel's largest venture capital fund with over $1.8 billion under management. Pitango is focused on seed, expansion and late stage companies in core technologies, consumer, and Life Sciences. The ...
, Innovation Endeavors, and returning angel investors. In 2015, Formlabs opened their second office in Berlin, Germany. In August 2015, Michael Sorkin, former co-founder of iGo3D, joined Formlabs to serve as the managing director of their European headquarters. In August 2016, Formlabs raised $35 million in series B funding led by
Foundry Group A foundry is a factory that produces metal casting (metalworking), castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. T ...
. In April 2018, Formlabs raised $30 million in series C funding led by Tyche Partners, with investors including the municipally-owned
Shenzhen Capital Group Shenzhen Capital Group Co., Ltd (SCGC; ) is a state-owned venture capital company based in Shenzhen, China. It is affiliated with the Shenzhen Government and its investments cover industries supported by national policies. According to South Ch ...
. The company said it would use the funding to expand its product portfolio and scale operations to meet increasing customer demand, particularly from Asia.


Products


Form 1

In October 2012, Formlabs publicly announced its first product, the Form 1 3D printer, in a Kickstarter campaign that raised a record-breaking $2.95 million in funding making the Form 1 one of the most highly funded crowdfunding projects up until that time. Form 1 3D printers began shipping to backers in May 2013 after months of delayed production. The Form 1 used a 3D printing process known as
stereolithography Stereolithography (SLA or SL; also known as vat photopolymerisation, optical fabrication, photo-solidification, or resin printing) is a form of 3D printing technology used for creating models, prototypes, patterns, and production parts in a lay ...
, wherein liquid resin is cured, or hardened, into a solid material by the application of laser light. Although previously available in larger, more expensive machines, the Form 1 offered stereolithography in a smaller, more affordable desktop-class device.


Form 1+

On June 10, 2014, Formlabs released the Form 1+ 3D Printer, which replaced the Form 1 in their product line. Improvements included speed, print quality, and reliability. The Form 1+ was officially sunsetted March 15, 2017.


Form 2

On September 22, 2015, Formlabs announced the Form 2 printer, including a larger build volume and a wiper. It also switches to a cartridge resin system, instead of bottles that needed to be manually poured into the Form 1 & Form 1+. Third-party resins can be used with Open Mode. The Form 2 was named Best Resin Printer for 2019 by Tom's Guide in their annual rankings. The Form 2 is scheduled to be officially sunsetted in 2023.


Form Wash and Form Cure

On May 5, 2017, Formlabs announced the Form Wash and the Form Cure. Together with the Form 2, they complete the SLA engine. The Form Wash is a washing machine used to automatically clean liquid resin off of printed 3D models. The Form Cure is an
ultraviolet Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nanometer, nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 Hertz, PHz) to 400 nm (750 Hertz, THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than ...
postcuring system. After printing, the build platform on the Form 2 can be removed and installed on the Form Wash, which uses an impeller to agitate 3D printed parts in
isopropyl alcohol Isopropyl alcohol (IUPAC name propan-2-ol and also called isopropanol or 2-propanol) is a colorless, flammable organic compound with a pungent alcoholic odor. As an isopropyl group linked to a hydroxyl group (chemical formula ) it is the simple ...
. The Form Cure heats parts up to 80 degrees Celsius and uses thirteen 405 nanometer UV LEDs.


Fuse 1

On June 5, 2017, Formlabs announced the Fuse 1, a
selective laser sintering Selective laser sintering (SLS) is an additive manufacturing (AM) technique that uses a laser as the power and heat source to sinter powdered material (typically nylon or polyamide), aiming the laser automatically at points in space defined b ...
3D printer. It has a much larger build volume than the Form line of printers, a removable build chamber, and uses
nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...
powder.


Form 3, Form 3B, Form 3L and Form 3BL

On April 2, 2019, Formlabs announced the 4th Generation of their SLA printers, the Form 3 and Form 3L, designed for use by artists, designers, and other professionals. The Form 3 offers a larger print area than the Form 2 as well as Low Force Stereolithography (LFS), a new SLA technology developed by Formlabs that promises smoother surface finish and more detailed prints. The Form 3L utilizes the same optics engine as the Form 3, including LFS, with five times the build volume. Additional improvements include an upgraded optics engine, modular components to simplify repair and integrated sensors to improve print success and usability. This earned it the title of Best Resin Printer of 2019 by The Mediahq. On November 12, 2019, Formlabs launched the Form 3B, a variant of the Form 3 specially designed for the dental industry. Unlike the Form 3, the Form 3B is compatible with Formlabs' array of specialty dental materials. The only exception is Form 3 printers designated "Early 2019" which retain the dental material capabilities from its initial release. In 2020, the company launched Form 3BL, which features the larger platform of the Form 3L, along with the material capabilities of the Form 3B. In 2022 at CES, the company announced the Form 3+ and Form 3B+ which are updated versions of the Form 3/3B with improved LPU/Laser stability, better heating and monitoring of the build chamber, true light touch supports, and the new build platform 2, which uses a flexible stainless steel sheet held with magnets to a base in order to make removing the parts from the build plate faster and easier than the original build platform the first shipped with the Form 2.


Form Cell

On June 5, 2017, Formlabs announced the Form Cell, a cell of Form 2 3D printers, as well as a Form Wash and a robotic gantry system. It is completely automated and can be used as a 24-hour digital "factory".


PreForm

Formlabs provides a free software package called PreForm, designed to prepare 3D models for printing on the Form 1, Form 1+, Form 2, Form 3, and Fuse 1. Some of the features of PreForm include automatic model orientation and support structure generation.


Nasopharyngeal Swabs

As the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
took off in March 2020, Formlabs, working with,
Northwell Health Northwell Health is a nonprofit integrated healthcare network that is New York State's largest healthcare provider and private employer, with more than 81,000 employees. The flagship hospitals of Northwell are North Shore University Hosp ...
and the
University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...
developed a 3D printed
nasopharyngeal swab A nasopharyngeal swab is a device used for collecting a sample of nasal secretions from the back of the nose and throat. The sample is then analyzed for the presence of organisms or other clinical markers for disease. This diagnostic method is c ...
made from biocompatible resins. After receiving FDA Class I Exempt status, Formlabs quickly went into production; its printing facility in
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
was initially able to produce 150,000 swabs daily, and the design was released so that hospitals with their own printers can make swabs. Northwell and the University of South Florida were each immediately able produce 1,500 swabs daily with printers they already had.


Documentary

Formlabs is featured in ''
Print the Legend ''Print the Legend'' is a 2014 documentary film and Netflix Original focused on the 3D printing revolution. It delves into the growth of the 3D printing industry, with focus on startup companies MakerBot and Formlabs, established companies Stra ...
'', a documentary that tells the stories of several leading companies in the desktop 3D printer industry. The film premiered at
SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...
in March 2014, and was released internationally on
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
on September 26, 2014.


See also

*
List of 3D printer manufacturers This is a list of notable manufacturers of 3D printers. 3D printers are a type of robot that is able to print 3D models using successive layers of material. 0–9 * 3D makeR Technologies – Barranquilla, Colombia * 3D Systems – Rock Hill, ...


References


External links

* {{Official website, http://formlabs.com/ Companies based in Massachusetts Companies established in 2011 Computing output devices Manufacturing companies of the United States Robotics companies of the United States 3D printer companies 2011 establishments in Massachusetts